Top Tracks From the Les Paul Google Doodle

Google honored the late Les Paul on his 96th birthday today with what our colleagues at The Atlantic are already calling "the coolest Google Doodle ever"--a playable version of Paul's classic Gibson electric guitar, complete with a record button. Using it was easy, save for one Atlantic Wire writer, who will remain nameless: all you had to do was roll the mouse over a chord and start strumming. While our compositions were little more than a single chord plucked repeatedly, some of the 30-second covers we heard today were remarkable. Here are our favorites.

"Can't Take My Eyes Off of You," by Frankie Valli

"Iron Man," by Black Sabbath

"Billie Jean," by Michael Jackson

"The Star-Spangled Banner," by Francis Scott Key

"Ode To Joy," from Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9

"One," by Metallica

"Redemption Song," by Bob Marley

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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Ray Gustini is the author of Lucky Town, a forthcoming book about sports in Washington, D.C. He is a former staff writer for The Atlantic Wire.